Tag Archives: Dub Reggae

Lee “Scratch” Perry ► Monday Musical Appreciation

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Celebrating his 81st birthday today is the Grandfather of Reggae and the father of Dub Reggae, Rainford Hugh Perry, aka Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Back in the days before the word Reggae even existed — when it was still called Ska, or Bluebeat, or One Drop — Perry apprenticed at Kingston’s Studio One. There he performed a number of chores for owner Coxone Dodd, including selling records. During his short time there he managed to record some 30 songs for the label. However, Perry and Dodd didn’t get along, so Perry moved on to Joe Gibbs and Amalgamated Records. That relationship, rocky as it was, lasted longer. However, Gibbs’ money woes had him strike out on his own and Perry started up his own label, Upsetter Records in 1968. According to the WikiWackyWoo:

His first major single “People Funny Boy”, which was an insult directed at Gibbs, sold well with 60,000 copies sold in Jamaica alone. It is notable for its innovative use of a sample (a crying baby) as well as a fast, chugging beat that would soon become identifiable as “reggae” (the new kind of sound which was given the name “Steppers”). Similarly his acrimonious 1967 single as Lee “King” Perry Run for Cover was likewise aimed at Sir Coxsone. From 1968 until 1972 he worked with his studio band The Upsetters. During the 1970s, Perry released numerous recordings on a variety of record labels that he controlled, and many of his songs were popular in both Jamaica and the United Kingdom. He soon became known for his innovative production techniques as well as his eccentric character.[1] In 1970 Perry produced and released The Wailers track “Mr Brown” (1970) with its unusual use of studio effects and eerie opening highlighting his unique approach to production.


Perry produced some of the earliest tracks for the Wailers, before they signed with Island Records. Chris Blackwell took the original tracks, removed the rough edges, renamed the band Bob Marley and the Wailers, and nothing was ever the same again.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I worked for Island Records Canada in the mid-’70s, where my first contact with Lee “Scratch” Perry and Dub Reggae was the amazing LP Super Ape by The Upsetters. I loved Dub Reggae from the start because it was like Psychedelic Reggae. The fun was trying to identify the original tunes that Perry Dubbed up. It’s one album from that era I still put on and CRANK it up to 11.

Perry’s career has had its ups and downs over the years, including a December 2015 fire at his Secret Laboratory Studio. According to Rolling Stone:

Lee “Scratch” Perry‘s “secret laboratory” studio in Switzerland burned down Thursday, destroying the dub legend’s collection of studio equipment, art, stage costumes and music. “Something very very sad happened. I forgot to [put] out a candle and my whole secret laboratory burned out,” Perry wrote on Facebook, “My whole life collections, arts, my magic hats, my magic boots, all my crazy show outfits and costumes: king, pope, general, magician… All my electronics and studio equipment and my magic mic, books, musik, CDs… Everything gone.”

On Facebook, Perry also posted photos of himself standing in the burnt-out ruins of the studio, which lent its name to Perry’s 1990 LP From the Secret Laboratory. Perry also noted in his letter, “I am so sad and my wife is so mad.” As a result of the fire, Perry is asking fans to provide specially made costumes for his upcoming trek; fans who contribute an outfit will be placed on the guest list and given backstage access when the Upsetter’s trek comes to their town.

This was Perry’s second fire. In 1981 he torched his earlier Black Ark studios himself, the episode eventually blamed on a mental breakdown.

I had the extreme thrill to see Perry perform live at DubFest in Hollywood, Florida, in September of 2009. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to see him because he spends most of his time in Europe. But, I was able to knock him off my bucket list on the same day I also saw Bunny Wailer live.

Lee “Scratch” Perry is still going strong and he’s already tweeted out his own birthday greetings.

You can find many biographical details on the interwebs, but Not Now Silly is all about the music. Here’s a small sample of the hundreds of tracks that Lee “Scratch” Perry has produced and recorded over the years, starting with one of my all-time favourite Reggae tracks:










U-Roy ► Monday Musical Appreciation

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Let’s get right to it. Had it not been for Reggae “toasting,” or “dancehall,” there would have been no Rap or Hip Hop. U-Roy, was not only one of the firsts in the genre, but one of the best.

Born Ewart Beckford on this day in 1942, U-Roy got his nickname from a family member who couldn’t pronounce his real name.

According to the WikiWackyWoo:

As a young man Beckford listened to the music of Louis Prima, James Brown, Ruth Brown, Fats Domino, Rufus Thomas, Smiley Lewis and was especially influenced by the vocal phrasing of Louis Jordan.


U-Roy’s first single
U-Roy began as a DJ in 1961 toasting over the records at live events. In Jamaica there was no access to radio, so the toasting was done at live shows in front of a “sound system.” Moving from one sound system to another, it took almost a decade before his career took off, but when it did U-Roy changed the face of Reggae music.
U-Roy has worked with the great producers of Dub Reggae, from King Tubby to Lee “Scratch” Perry, going from height to height.

According to All Music: 
His toasts were utterly relaxed
and conversational, yet always in perfect synchronicity with the
rhythms. The DJ had now gained a significant following in the U.K., as
well, and in August 1976, visited Britain for the first time. He
performed at the London Lyceum, backed by the always excellent
Revolutionaries, and the 1978 Live EP was drawn from this phenomenal
show. Back in Jamaica, U-Roy began recording his new album, Rasta Ambassador,
filling the studio with musicians and singers, 15 strong in all. The
Gladiators provided particularly sonorous backing vocals, while the
band, led by the rhythm team of Sly & Robbie,
created a deep roots sound appropriate to the album’s title and
accentuated by Robinson’s deeply dubby production. 
U-Roy is still toasting and we are still listening. As always the proof is in the record grooves and in the beat. Listen to U-Roy and you’ll see why he was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction. A fitting distinction for a man who changed the face of Reggae music.

Linton Kwesi Johnson ► A Monday Musical Appreciation

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Celebrating a birthday today is Linton Kwesi Johnson, the first Dub Poet. I first became aware of him through Island Records Canada, which I worked for in the ’70s, and he was already a force in Britain. In 2012, according to the The Guardian:

Father of dub poetry Linton Kwesi Johnson will join names including Harold Pinter, JG Ballard and Doris Lessing as winner of the Golden PEN award, for a lifetime’s distinguished service to literature.

Known for his controversial poem “Inglan Is A Bitch“, and for “Di Great Insohreckshan“,
a response to the 1981 Brixton riots in which he stated “It is noh
mistri / we mekkin histri”, Johnson writes what he calls “dub poetry”, a
blend of reggae music and verse written in a Jamaican-London
vernacular. Often performing with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band, he has
been writing and performing since the mid-1970s. In 2002, he was the
second living poet, and the only black poet, to be included in the
Penguin Modern Classic Series.


Linton Kwesi Johnson accepting his Golden PEN award

Johnson was chosen by the trustees of English PEN to receive the
honour. President and author Gillian Slovo described him as “an artistic
innovator, a ground-breaker who has used poetry to talk politics and
who first gave voice to, and who continues to give voice to, the
experience of moving country and of living in this one”.

Johnson himself said he was “surprised and humbled” to win the prize,
because his poetry is from the “little tradition” of Caribbean verse.
“I hope that by conferring on me this award, English PEN will involve
more black writers in its important work and that more black writers
will support English PEN,” he said.

His British Council Literature page says, in part:

He joined the Black Panther movement in 1970, organising a poetry workshop and working with Rasta Love, a group of poets and percussionists. He joined the Brixton-based Race Today Collective in 1974. His first book of poems, Voices of the Living and the Dead, was published by the Race Today imprint in 1974. His second book, Dread, Beat An’ Blood (1975) includes poems written in Jamaican dialect, and was released as a record in 1978. He is widely regarded as the father of ‘dub poetry’, a term he coined to describe the way a number of reggae DJs blended music and verse. Johnson maintains that his starting point and focus is poetry, composed before the music, and for this reason he considers the term ‘dub poetry’ misleading when applied to his own work. He recorded several albums on the Island label, including Forces of Victory (1979), Bass Culture (1980), LKJ In dub (1980) and Making History (1984) and founded his own record label – LKJ – in the mid-1980s, selling over two million records worldwide. 

According to John Dougan’s Artist Biography at All Music:

Although he has only released one album of new material in the last ten
years, and virtually retired from the live stage after his 1985 tour, Linton Kwesi Johnson remains a towering figure in reggae music. Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in the Brixton section of London, Johnson invented dub poetry, a type of toasting descended from the DJ stylings of U-Roy and I-Roy. But whereas toasting tended to be hyperkinetic and given to fits of braggadocio, Johnson‘s
poetry (which is what it was — he was a published poet and journalist
before he performed with a band) was more scripted and delivered in a
more languid, slangy, streetwise style.

But, as always, it’s all about The Music:




The Monday Musical Appreciation is a brand new Not Now Silly feature, bringing insight into the music that turns me on.

Big Up, Jamaica!!! Happy 50th!!!

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Let’s face facts: Jamaica is probably the closest Christopher Columbus ever came to what was later called the United States of ‘Merka, the country he is alleged to have ‘discovered.’ And, when he landed in Jamaica in 1494, there were already people there. The Arawak and Taino peoples, who had originated in South America, had been on the island by as much as 2,500 – 5,000 years by then. By the time of Columbus’ arrival there were over 200 villages, but he claimed the island in the name of Spain anyway. The British, led by the same William Penn who founded the ‘Merkin province of Pennsylvania, forced the Spanish out in 1655, with slavery and sugar becoming the main exports, until the British abolished slavery in 1807. Then it was just sugar. Still needing a workforce, they imported Indian and Chinese workers as indentured servants. This is one of the reasons Jamaican population is such a multicultural mix and reflects its national motto: “Out of many, one people.” It’s also why so many Jamaican dishes use curry and other hot spices.

Skipping ahead a hundred and fifty years: On this date in 1962, after 4 years of being a province in the Federation of the West Indies, gained full independence and adopted its national anthem.

However, it’s not the music of the National Anthem that has spread Jamaica’s reputation around the world: It’s Reggae music. According to the WikiWackyWoo:

Many other internationally known artists were born in Jamaica including Millie Small, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Desmond Dekker, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Shaggy, Grace Jones, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton, Sean Paul, I Wayne, Bounty Killer and many others. Band artist groups that came from Jamaica include Black Uhuru, Third World Band, Inner Circle, Chalice Reggae Band, Culture, Fab Five and Morgan Heritage. The genre jungle emerged from London’s Jamaican diaspora. The birth of hip-hop in New York City, New York also owed much to the city’s Jamaican community.

Chris Blackwell
I had the pleasure of working for Island Records Canada when it was still an independent company run by Chris Blackwell. Blackwell is one of my heroes. He didn’t create Reggae, but he took it global starting with Millie Small. Blackwell discovered the 15-year old singer and produced her single “My Boy Lollipop,” which sold over 7 million records worldwide. Then he signed Bob Marley and many other Reggae artists; launching many careers (and not just Reggae artists) onto the international stage. I met Blackwell once, on the same day I met Bob Marley, yet they were not together, nor were they even in the same country. It’s a long, complicated story that I keep promising to write and, maybe, one day I will.


Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth, is a fitting
symbol for How Jamaica Conquered The World

I was also honoured to be interviewed for my (very small) part in “How Jamaica Conquered the World,” a terrific series of podcasts which documents Jamaica’s outsized influence, when compared to the small footprint of the small island nation of just 4,244 square miles, smaller than Connecticut, the 48th largest state.

However, let’s face it: It’s the music and ganja for which Jamaica is known. Since I can’t push any ganja through my computer, I am reduced to just sharing a small sampling of the music. Here’s a Jamaican Jukebox so you can celebrate along with Jamaicans all around the world as they proudly wave the flag on their half-century anniversary.

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Desmond Dekker ► A Musical Appreciation

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Desmond Dekker, who passed away just 6 years ago, had the prettiest voice in all of Reggae music. On what would have been his 71st birthday, let’s take a moment to honour one of the pioneers of Reggae music. Everyone knows his most famous song, Israelites, his only U.S. hit. Watch him lip sync it in the late ’60s:

However, there are far more songs in the Desmond Dekker canon that you might not even know you know and, even if you don’t know them, you should. For your continued Reggae education, I present a Desmond Dekker Jukebox.

How Jamaica Conquered The World ► The Day I Met Bob Marley

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The latest episode of the excellent podcast-documentary How Jamaica Conquered The World is now online. Episode Eleven is the second part of the story of Bob Marley: Recollections and Legacy. It includes an edited version of my “Meeting Bob Marley” story. The story takes place backstage at Convocation Hall, Toronto.

Here’s the first part of the Bob Marley story:

Some of my recollections are also featured in Episode 3: The Story of Dub Music:

I highly recommend How Jamaica Conquered The World, and not just because I’m in it. It is a high quality documentary on Jamaica’s influence around the world in the past 50 years.

How Jamaica Conquered The World ► An Update

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Back on April 20 I wrote about my small part in “How Jamaica Conquered the World.” Every once in a while producer Roifield Brown sends out an email, telling me about the latest progress for this amazing FREE documentary. I’ve combined a few of them to bring you the latest in “How Jamaica Conquered the World” News:

It never rains good news but it pours good news. As of next week, How Jamaica will be promoted by iTunes as its podcast of the week in the UK.

Earlier Roifield sent along more iTunes progress:

Hello, just thought I should send you an email to keep you updated with the progress of the project “How Jamaica Conquered the World.” I’ve been working on the project for some 8 months now and in the last week we seem to have made some real and significant progress with getting the message of Jamaica’s influence throughout the world out there.

The series is now on iTunes and we are experiencing hundreds of downloads each day and we have been promoted by iTunes on the “new and noteworthy” section which is absolutely brilliant. What is important is that we get as many reviews on iTunes as possible, so at the end of this email are itunes links to HJCW so that you can subscribe, tell your friends and hopefully write review. On iTunes the shows are released weekly, with the new episode going up every Sunday evening. Currently there are 5 published.

As well as our success on iTunes where I’m now featured mix on www.mixcloud.com. As well as increasing downloads we had taken on board a PR company which will be getting us press and media exposure for the whole project.

This week was rounded off by a fruitful telephone conference with SABC, South African broadcasting Corporation who are interested in the rights to the project, so the film could well be starting in production in the next two months.

However, the email that excited me the most said:

Hello all, working on this podcast has made me realise that I have way too much material and a lot of good content is being left on the cutting room floor as I try to condense every topic into a 10 minute show. So to remedy this I will be creating a new podcast entitled the Reggae Monologues or the Dublogues. These will feature your interview in full with myself edited out but with a dub soundtrack. I feel that this will be great extra content for people that want to know more about your feelings and insight into the given topics being discussed.

It will be a few weeks before I put up the first episode on iTunes but I will alert you when your show is live.

The thought that I might become a part of a Dub soundtrack is one of the thrills of my life. Thank you, Roifield.